


Just Keep Swimming

by fandomfrolics



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Humor, M/M, MIT Era, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 12:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2191137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomfrolics/pseuds/fandomfrolics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony’s Fun Fact #124: MIT has a swim test requirement - you have to jump into a pool and swim 100 yards continuously before you can graduate. Tony sorta wishes he’d known that before he’d turned down CalTech.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Keep Swimming

_Skritch skritch._

Jim paused in his work and cocked his head to one side.

_Skritch skritch skritch_

He rolled his eyes. Without glancing up, he tipped his chair back slightly and caught his hand on the doorknob, giving it a little twist. He let his chair fall back to the carpet with a soft thump and turned back to his desk as the door swung slowly open behind him.

“Hey, Tony,” he said, already back to scribbling out the equation he needed. God he hated fluid dynamics. So many fucking equations.

Somewhere amongst all the derivatives his brain dimly registered the sound of muffled panting behind him but it wasn’t until the panting was joined by a (forced. Definitely forced) hacking cough that he dropped his pencil with a heavy sigh.

He turned sideways on his seat, resting one elbow on the back of his chair so that he could properly observe the sorry sight before him.

Tony Stark was stretched out facedown on his carpet, his legs trailing out through the door and into the narrow hallway, waiting to trip the next distracted person to walk by. His hair was drenched, little drops falling to the carpet and forming small stains. With his arms flopped by his side the way they were, Jim was half tempted to get out a piece of chalk and draw an outline around him.

“Hrrngh.”

“So, how was the swim test?” Jim asked, a light teasing melody to his words.

“ _Hrrrrrngh,”_ Tony repeated with force. After a moment, he pushed out a gusty breath and locked his hands under his chest to force himself up. Or at least, that seemed to be the plan. His chest and head made it up about halfway before he decided to abort and just rolled over, leaving his prone body half pressed up against the open door.

“That good, huh?”

Tony huffed. “I have,” he said, shifting his shoulders and squirming until he could see Jim’s face, “sixty-three -  _sixty-three! -_ pending patents. And this school, this godforsaken crazy  _clearly struggling with their priorities_ school refuses to graduate me until I make it across a fucking pool!”

“Well, technically it’s until you make it across it four times-“

“ _I know how many times!”_ Tony all but screeched.

Jim quickly threw a hand over his mouth to stifle his snort.

“Oh, real nice. Just laugh at my suffering why don’t you?”

“Okay,” Jim replied with a shrug and dropped his hand. Tony shot him a glare. “Why are you still panting?” he asked curiously.

“I don’t know, Rhodey! Maybe it’s because I had to move a hundred yards through a  _stupidly_ dense liquid going like this!” Tony kicked one leg high up in the air and flailed his arms out in the most uncoordinated way possible, knocking one into the door behind him and throwing the other over his head. The whole thing made him look like a windmill designed by a toddler. A blind toddler.

Jim didn’t even bother to hide his snickers this time.

“You know you could have just taken the class right? They don’t actually want you to drown.” He ran his gaze over Tony’s collapsed body. “Or go crawling into people’s rooms looking like a drowned rat.”

“Take the  _class?”_ Tony repeated, horrified. “And spend even  _more_ time doing this?” and he demonstrated his beautiful swimming technique again. “Ow,” he moaned, when his hand whacked the doorknob. He brought it to his still-heaving chest and rubbed at it mournfully.

Jim rested his chin on his palm and gazed fondly down at Tony over the back of the chair. “Well at least it’s behind you now. That’s your last requirement right? Why don’t you go take a hot shower and we’ll celebrate!” he said brightly.

“Uh uh,” Tony retorted. “I am never going near water again. Not a single drop, no way. Those Course 7 nerds will just have to find another way to hydrate me because this body is not going to— hey, where you goin’?” Tony asked as Jim rose out of his chair.

Jim grabbed his towel down from his bedpost and threw it over his shoulder. “That’s too bad,” he said, not looking down at Tony’s expression as he stepped right over him and into the hallway. “Because I was just about to take one myself.”

He made it about three feet down the hallway before he heard the scramble of footsteps behind him. “You know, I’ve always loved water,” Tony said as he caught up to him. “Magical, miraculous, cleansing water.” He slung an arm around Jim’s waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. “Have I told you how much I love water?”

Jim smirked, not breaking his stride. “Mmhmm,” he said. “That’s what I thought.”

**Author's Note:**

> ‘Course 7 nerds’ is MITspeak for Biology majors. Well, the ‘Course 7’ part is. Also, this is Tony’s final year so he’s 17 and in my head Rhodey’s probably 20 (in case the age thing squicks anyone out).


End file.
